It it well known that ruminant animals, including cattle, sheep, giraffe, deer, goat, bison and camels, and more specifically cattle and sheep, digest large quantities of feeds daily. These feeds are mostly cellulosic in content and they are swallowed with little chewing by the ruminant. The feeds are ingested into the largest of the four stomachs of the ruminant, called the rumen. The rumen is not a true stomach as it does not have any digestive glands. The rumen is somewhat in the nature of a storage compartment, and it is akin to a mixing organ containing a high concentration of bacteria. The bacteria in the rumen break up the cellulosic components present in the feed into simpler substances, which are more readily digestible by the ruminant. After this bacterial action upon the feed, it is regurgitated by the animal, masticated into finer particles, and re-swallowed by the animal. When the particles of feed are reduced further to a critical size, they pass from the rumen for further digestion in the true stomach of the animal.
The veterinary industry and veterinary medicine has long sought a dispenser that can release therapeutic agents, such as anti-infectious agents, feed additives and nutrient substances into the rumen in a controlled manner over a prolonged period of time. The dispenser is needed to maintain and improve the health of the animal, to fight off unwanted infections, to dispense feed additives that enhance feed efficiency, and to dispense nutrients that promote the growth of the animal. Often these beneficial agents must be given orally and they must be used in small quantities at frequent and regular intervals for their optimum benefits. These requirements make it difficult to administer these active agents properly for the management of the health and disease of the animal.
It is self-evident in view of the above presentation, a need exists for a dispenser that can dispense a beneficial agent in preselected amounts at a controlled rate over time. It is further self-evident a pressing need exists for an inexpensive, easy to manufacture dispenser that is especially adapted for dispensing a therapeutic agent, such as an anti-infectious agent, feed additive, or nutrient, into the reticulorumen of a ruminant in a preselected amount at a controlled rate over time.